The First Congress
adopted several other bills relating to the federal judiciary or its functions. Except
for the bill providing salaries, these bills originated in the Senate. Most important
was the Punishment of Crimes Act, the first listing of federal crimes and their punishment.
In addition to treason and counterfeiting of federal records, the crimes included murder,
disfigurement, and robbery committed in federal jurisdictions or on the high seas. The
fourth paragraph of the act authorized judges to sentence convicted murderers to surgical
dissection after execution. The fifth paragraph provided fines and imprisonment for anyone
attempting to rescue a body of an individual sentenced to dissection.